Insights · September 2026 · 4 min read
Your category pages are the problem.
When a store comes to us unhappy with organic traffic, the blog is rarely the issue. The issue is almost always the category pages. They are thin, they share the same boilerplate copy, three of them target the same keyword, and the internal links point everywhere except at them.
Start with the pages that can take money
A buying query lands on a category page, not on a 2,000 word guide. So that is where the work goes first. One page per intent. A heading that says what the page sells. Copy that answers the three questions every buyer has: what is this, who is it for, and why this store.
The unglamorous checklist
- One intent per page. If two category pages could swap titles and nobody would notice, merge them.
- Internal links with intent. Your best guides and homepage should link down to the categories that convert, using the words buyers actually search.
- Filters that do not multiply. Every filter combination that creates a new URL is a page you now have to maintain. Canonicalize or noindex the combinations.
- Proof near the buy button. Reviews, delivery times, returns. Not at the bottom of the page. Near the decision.
Then write, sparingly
Only after the categories are sound does editorial make sense. One strong guide per cluster, linked down to the category it supports. If a proposed article cannot name the category page it exists to help, we do not write it.
This is the order we work in on every retail sprint: categories first, internal links second, editorial third. It is not exciting. It is what moves.